MacBook Air on 4 Different Screens, New and Old

The new MacBook Air is definitely a notebook that we'd like to get our hands on, even though it's slightly under-powered. However, sacrifices had to be made in order to deliver this new form factor. This hasn't stopped Blake from running a total of four effective monitors (including the laptop screen) off his MacBook Air.

The last time we mentioned Blake Patterson, he was hard at work on his Byte Cellar. Now, he's moved onto finding innovative ways of getting all of the processing power out of a MacBook Air.

Blake is a web developer and blogger from Alexandria, VA. There are currently four monitors running off his MacBook air in his home office. That's surprising since the MacBook Air isn't really supposed to be a multi-monitor machine. However, just take a look at what kind of monitors he's using and you'll understand.

The retro Apple IIc is tied to the MacBook Air thanks to a terminal session via a serial cable. The 20-inch Apple Cinema Display is connected via the Mini Display Port thanks to the DVI adapter. The 7-inch Mimo 720-S is plugged into a USB port on the MacBook Air. The Apple IIc is mainly used to log onto IRC (Internet Relay Chat) servers. We have to say that it can get annoying always switching tabs and such, so having a dedicated monitor for chatting via IRC makes sense, as much as having a screen dedicated to your Twitter stream.

One of the biggest issues with the MacBook Air is the fact that it uses a processor that's almost outdated. This hasn't stopped Blake from running it at its full potential. This home office sets itself apart thanks to the unusual tech that surrounds the MacBook Air, from the Apple IIc and the older Apple Cinema Display.